Earl Park, Indiana

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Earl Park is a town in Benton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 485 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Earl Park was laid out July 31, 1872 by Adams Earl, his wife, and merchant Adams D. Raub, and consisted of 217 lots, the public sale of which on August 8 attracted some 2,000 people. The town's first building was a grain elevator, its second a hotel (operated by one Moxie Burlage), and its third was Earl Park's first private residence, that of Silas H. Kent. Elias Wees opened the first general store, providing residents with groceries and provisions.

Earl Park's first school, a one-story frame building, was erected around 1874 and expanded to a second story around 1878. The town gained a Catholic church in 1880, and a Methodist one in 1881, each costing about $2,500 to build and furnish.

[edit] Geography

Earl Park is located at 40°41′4″N, 87°24′57″W (40.684428, -87.415872)^GR1 in Richland Township. U.S. Route 52 skirts around the northeast edge of town, and the Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad along the southwest. The Upper Sugar Creek flows to the town's north and west.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 485 people, 168 households, and 111 families residing in the town. The population density was 199.2/km² (514.5/mi²). There were 177 housing units at an average density of 72.7/km² (187.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.97% White, 0.21% African American, 0.82% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.03% of the population.

There were 168 households out of which 40.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the town the population was spread out with 27.2% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $32,981, and the median income for a family was $37,188. Males had a median income of $26,667 versus $22,875 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,369. About 8.7% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

[edit] References

Mossman, Ed (1883), "History of Benton County: Past Events -- Present Condition" in Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co.